Types of heralds and heraldic titles
Types of heralds Introduction In this section the SCA heraldic hierarchy is explained. Don't feel intimidated by it; the hierarchy and the bureaucracy are tools for managing the heraldic side of our vast hobby. Most heralds are not required to have a deep understanding of them, but in any case having some knowledge of the different herald offices is helpful and may give you ideas on how to proceed in your heraldic hobby. Warranted or not? As per SCA regulations, local officers and anyone who handles money have to be warranted. Thus all heralds holding a herald office (local, regional, or kingdom level) and all who handle the fees for submissions must be warranted. Additionally, all heralds not holding an office (heralds-at-large) may become warranted. The roster of warranted heralds is maintained by the Schwarzdrachen office. In order to have someone warranted as a local herald, the previous herald or the local seneschal should send a letter to that office; this letter must include the name (both SCA and mundane), address (preferably including phone number and e-mail address), and SCA membership number of the new local herald. In order to be warranted as a herald-at-large, the person should themselves send similar information in a letter to the Schwarzdrachen office. Reporting In a nutshell, all warranted heralds in Drachenwald report to Schwarzdrachen, who in turn reports to Laurel. Another way of looking at the hierarchy is that all warranted heralds belong to Drachenwald College of Heralds, which is connected to SCA College of Arms via key offices (Schwarzdrachen, submissions heralds, commenting heralds). If none of this sounds familiar, do not worry! If you are warranted, you should already have some connection to Drachenwald College of Heralds, and if you are not warranted, you have no reporting duties. SCA College of Arms The Laurel Sovereign of Arms (usually just Laurel) is the principal heraldic officer of the Society and the head of the SCA College of Arms (CoA). Laurel is responsible for fostering the study and practice of heraldry, and for establishing rules and making determinations regarding names and armory, royal and noble titles, and geographical designations to be approved for use in the Society. The primary deputies of Laurel are the Pelican Sovereign of Arms (Pelican; decides on name submissions for individuals and groups in the SCA) and Wreath Sovereign of Arms (Wreath; decides on armory submissions for individuals and groups in the SCA). Members of the College of Arms support Laurel and Laurel's deputies in their duties, including studying historical heraldic usage, developing heraldic rules for the Society's use, and reviewing individual items prior to their registration for use in the Society. This support consists of providing reports on the state of heraldry in each kingdom, forwarding kingdom submissions, and providing commentary about submissions Members of the College of Arms include the principal heralds of each kingdom, the submissions herald(s) of each kingdom, and commenting heralds nominated by the principal heralds. SCA College of Arms Laurel Staff Drachenwald College of Heralds Whereas the Society has only one College of Arms (CoA), each kingdom has their own College of Heralds (CoH). The head of Drachenwald College of Heralds and one of the Kingdom Great Officers is Schwarzdrachen Principal Herald. According to Corpora: The Principal Herald is the head of the kingdom’s College of Heralds and is responsible for supervising field heraldry and court heraldry at events within the kingdom, and for College of Arms activities within the kingdom, including the timely processing of submissions for names and armory. (VII.C.) In these duties Schwarzdrachen is supported by the deputy for the Schwarzdrachen office, Aurochs Herald, the submissions heralds Albion Herald (external) and Edelweiss Herald (internal), and other kingdom heraldic staff. CoH consists of all warranted heralds and pursuivants of the kingdom. In addition to Schwarzdrachen and staff, Drachenwald has regional heralds, local heralds, and heralds-at-large: * Schwarzdrachen Principal Herald ** Chief heraldic officer of the Kingdom; oversees the college and reports quarterly to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms and to the Crown of Drachenwald. * Kingdom staff heralds ** Experienced heralds who manage specific tasks, like submissions, ceremonies, commenting, or the order of precedence. * Regional heralds ** Heralds with some experience, and knowledge of at least one area of heraldry. The regions are the large branches in the kingdom: Nordmark, Insulae Draconis, Knight's Crossing and Aarnimetsä. * Local heralds ** The largest group within CoH. They are local officers for their groups, who are interested in heraldry. * Heralds-at-large ** Heralds who do not hold a specific office but are warranted. These can include commenters (the heralds who do research and offer commentary about names and armory) or novice heralds, who do not hold a local office. Local heralds A local herald holds a herald's office in an SCA branch that is smaller than a Drachenwald region, typically a canton or a shire. In the Kingdom of Drachenwald local heralds are the frontline heraldic contacts in their respective branches. Their primary responsibility is to help and assist people in matters relating to the SCA College of Arms, mainly when these people wish to register names and/or heraldic insignia such as devices, badges and other armory. Local herald does not need to be a fluent expert in the fields of heraldry and onomastics (although the more one knows the easier it is to do the job). It is sufficient to be somewhat knowledgeable, able to look for help with the submissions, and keen to learn. Sometimes local heralds are also expected to handle protocol heraldry in the events of their branches. This isn't strictly speaking required from the officer, but if one happens to be shy or is otherwise not comfortable with such expectations it is highly advisable to be aware of this possibility and frankly and straightforwardly tell about this at the time one is volunteering for the position of the herald. Requirements * Interest in heraldry * Willingness to assist local people in registering names and heraldic insignia (note that it's enough to guide people to the needed information; a local herald need not know everything themselves) Regional heralds A regional herald holds a herald's office in an administrative region of Drachenwald College of Heralds and is responsible for heraldic matters and local heralds in their region. In addition to the duties typical to local heralds (assisting people in matters relating to the SCA College of Arms, especially regarding name and heraldry registrations), regional heralds also recruit and train local heralds. If the region corresponds with a barony or a principality, their responsibilities include advising the local ruling nobles on matters relating to heraldry and protocol. Drachenwald regional herald offices: *Silversparre Herald for the Principality of Nordmark *Rockall Herald for the Principality of Insulae Draconis *Broken Wain Herald for the Barony of Knight's Crossing *Susi Herald for the Barony of Aarnimetsä Requirements * Interest in heraldry * Willingness to assist others in registering names and heraldic insignia (note that a regional herald need not know everything themselves) * Recruiting and training local heralds (foremost guiding them to suitable resources) * Readiness to advise the local ruling nobles on matters relating to heraldry and protocol Kingdom heraldic staff Only some of the offices are described here. For contact information and all Drachenwald CoH offices, see Heraldry Contacts & Roster Schwarzdrachen office Each kingdom has their own College of Heralds (CoH) that consists of the principal herald of the kingdom and the warranted heralds of the kingdom. In Drachenwald the heraldic title of the principal herald is Schwarzdrachen Principal Herald, and their deputy in this office is Aurochs Herald. Submissions heralds In addition to a principal herald the SCA requires each kingdom to have one or more submissions heralds who are responsible for the kingdom end of the submissions process. In Drachenwald Edelweiss Herald is responsible for the internal submissions process (receiving submissions from residents of the kingdom) and Albion Herald is responsible for the external submissions process (sending submissions from kingdom to Laurel). Order of Precedence An important duty of the CoH is maintaining the kingdom Order of Precedence (OP), a database containing all awards given to residents of the kingdom. The officer responsible for the OP is Posthorn Herald, to whom all court reports are sent. Commenting heralds Commenting refers to evaluating and giving feedback on name and heraldic submissions. First tier commentary happens on kingdom level, and second tier commentary on Laurel level. On both levels a commenter's most important job is to provide first Albion and then Laurel with enough information to reach a decision on whether the submission is registrable. Schwarzdrachen approves kingdom level commenters and nominates Laurel level commenters. Commenting is done in OSCAR. Personal heralds ... Heralds unattached ...